Defence officials paid up to £3,000 for a table at Tuesday’s black tie event

Thousands of poppies representing WWI soldiers are yet to be removed

Organisers accused of ‘crass insensitivity’ for holding event at the Tower

The Tower of London hosted a £240-a-head dinner for arms dealers while poppies were still being removed from the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red memorial.

Nearly 200 people from the UK arms industry sipped Champagne before dining on a swanky three-course dinner just yards from the memorial to the 888,246 British servicemen killed in the First World War.

The annual ‘acclaimed and influential dinner’ on Tuesday night was kept quiet by organisers London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), which did not publicise where the event was taking place.

Protesters met arms dealers at the Tower of London as they arrived for a ‘luxurious’ three-course dinner just yards from the poppy memorial, which is still being removed.

Nearly 200 guests from arms trade met for the dinner at the Tower of London on Tuesday night.

Guests, who included senior officials from the Ministry of Defence and foreign security companies, paid up to £3,000 for tables at the LCCI’s Defence and Security Dinner but were told they would be advised on its location after registering.

The Tower of London was accused of ‘crass insensitivity’ for hosting the £240-a-head black tie dinner for weapons manufacturers at the Tower of London, where poppies from the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red memorial are still being removed.

Andrew Smith, of Campaign Against the Arms Trade, told the Independent: ‘On Remembrance Day, the Tower of London was a focus for remembering the horrendous loss of life in the First World War.

‘It is disturbing that just weeks later it can play host to the very arms companies which profit from perpetuating war and conflict today.

‘It is crassly insensitive and in extremely bad taste that this historic monument would do this so soon after providing such a high-profile focal point for Remembrance Day.’

The dinner was co-sponsored by the world’s largest defence firm Lockheed Martin, with Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Nicholas Houghton the guest of honour.